McCutchen nervous before debut in Yankees pinstripes

Andrew McCutchen hit leadoff in his New York Yankees debut Saturday afternoon, which didn't give him much time to shake off the nerves associated with joining the storied franchise.

"I feel like a lot of baseball players want to throw on the pinstripes for who knows how long, just to say you did it," McCutchen said, according to Coley Harvey of ESPN. "It's a really surreal feeling for it to actually come to fruition."

He doesn't necessarily see the associated spike in anxiety as a negative.

"Nerves are a good thing. That's the way I look at it," the 31-year-old said. "If you get nervous about something, it's because you care about it. In this situation, am I nervous? Yeah, I'm nervous. I'm on a new team, and we have an opportunity to do big things here."

The Yankees acquired McCutchen to bolster an outfield currently missing star slugger Aaron Judge, who hasn't played since July 26 thanks to a fractured wrist. McCutchen received a warm welcome from the Yankees faithful.

However, his first game didn't go according to plan; the former National League MVP went 0-for-3 against the Detroit Tigers with a pair of strikeouts. He wasn't alone in his struggles at the plate, as the Yankees mustered only two hits on the afternoon - which proved to be enough in a 2-1 win.

McCutchen will seek his first hit as a member of the Yankees in Sunday's series finale.